Cover Story
Learning Through Landscapes
When Brenda Moreno grows up, she wants to be a scientist. If asked a year and a half ago, her answer might have been different. Brenda, 9, is one of 280 students at Manzo Elementary School, which was nearly shut down by the Tucson Unified School District in late 2012. But as of this fall,…
Word Odyssey – This Little Light of Mine
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock It’s time to feed your inner nerd. Now that Chanukah (or is it Hannukah, or Hannukkaahh?!), is upon us, a lot of candles are being lit. Even those who don’t celebrate the Festival of Lights are lighting candles and luminaria—there’s just something about the winter holidays that sends us into a…
ASU Bro Tip: Don’t F@ck With Old Wildcats Fans
Arizona’s football team got curbstomped on the field Saturday night in Tempe, losing 58-21 to Arizona State for the Wildcats’ worst loss in the Territorial Cup series since 1996. But the night wasn’t a total loss, as the NSFW video above shows. Apparently, at some point during the loooooong night for the Wildcats and their…
Arizona, I’m so F-ing Disappointed in You (And Russell Pearce Isn’t Involved)
Hey, Professor Francis, this goes out to you, good sir. I’m sure you’ll be thrilled with this bit of good news: According to a study by mobile ad technology company Marchex, Arizona is one of the top five states where residents are least likely to curse. On Today.com: The company examined more than 600,000 phone…
Max Needs a Home
The Humane Society of Southern Arizona presents Max, a 12-year-old, male, domestic short hairReference no.: 767691 Max is large and in charge! This 20-pound love sponge likes to be king of the castle and hopes someone welcomes him home with great fanfare soon. Max is a terrific companion who eagerly follows you around for snuggles…
X Wins the Rialto! (Exene Cervenka Forever)
C. Elliott Exene Cervenca with fellow X members Billy Zoom, left, and John Doe, right Exene Cervenka left her apron at home on this visit, but the band X arrived at the Rialto Theatre last Saturday with plenty of the uniquely punked up genre soup that’s attracted fans worldwide for more than three decades. C.…
Warner Bros. Casts Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in ‘Batman vs Superman’
Emerging star Gal Gadot has been cast as Wonder Woman in the 2015 Man of Steel sequel. Finally, we are going to get the superhero movie we have been waiting for since 1970s Justice Friends cartoons. “Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the…
Cheers! Arizona Wine Listed Among Top 100 in U.S.
The San Francisco Chronicle named Rob and Sara Hammelman’s Sand-Reckoner Vineyards’ Malvasia Bianca as one the top 100 wines in the country for the second time. This aromatic grape could be Arizona’s great hope, certainly based on Sand-Reckoner’s efforts. A day soaking on skins and fermentation in old barrels provides the seriousness found in great…
Holiday Gift Ideas From ‘Hood City’
Do you love Tucson enough to wear a shirt inspired by Food City and bacon wrapped hotdogs? TUCSON IS THE SHIT is a group of local artist that sells art, jewelry, apparel and accessories influenced by the old pueblo. The website says 90% of the sales go to the creators. My favorite for sale is…
Run-On Sunshine, Donut Shop Death and The Units at Toxic Ranch This Thursday
The clock is ticking before Toxic Ranch Records closes its doors after 25 years of business in Southern Arizona. There have been weekly Thursday shows featuring local bands since Bill Sassenberger announced the closure in September. Run-On Sunshine, Donut Shop Death and a new mysterious band called The Units will take the proverbial stage at 6 p.m. Thursday,…
Do We Need Another Hero?
“Mad” Max Rockatansky hasn’t braved the Australian wastelands since 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, but that’s about to change in 2015. Sort of. George Miller, the filmmaker from down under who created the Mad Max trilogy, is back in the director’s chair for the fourth film in the series, Mad Max: Fury Road. Not returning,…
Militant Baker Launches FundRazr Campaign for Body Acceptance Conference
Jes Baker, founder of The Militant Baker Blog and renaissance woman, needs your help to make the Body Love Conference a reality. The Body Love Conference is a high energy, positive and progressive event where women can come together to build a community in a supportive environment while participating in revolutionary presentations and workshops. Baker is trying to…
Giffords’ Trauma Doc Wants To Be a State Lawmaker
One of the trauma surgeons who saved Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ life is considering a career in politics. Dr. Randall Friese is preparing to launch a campaign for the House of Representatives as a Democrat in Legislative District 9, which includes central Tucson and the Catalina Foothills. Friese, an associate professor of surgery who works in…
Brewer Creates Independent Panel to Oversee and Review 6,000 CPS Cases
By Sophia Solis Cronkite News Service PHOENIX – Gov. Jan Brewer has created an independent panel to oversee Child Protective Services staff reviewing 6,000 reports of child abuse and neglect that weren’t investigated. “The goal is to ensure a thorough, transparent and independent oversight in the investigation to each of these neglected cases,” Brewer said…
Kardashians at the Meet Rack: God’s Just Happy for the Cameras
Building off of our earlier news that a few Kardashians (probably Kourtney Kardashian and her baby-daddy Scott Disick) are invading the Meet Rack tonight, we have confirmation from our sources at the Meet Rack that producers from the hit “reality” show would like to stop by. “What it came down to is that, last night,…
Country Thunder Arizona Has a Lineup Now
This year, it seems like music festivals are popping up in Arizona to try to separate music fans from their money, but the king of events where you stand in a field and listen to music outdoors will likely remain Country Thunder, the four-day fest held near Florence on April 10-13 next year. This year,…
Generation Cool Grand Opening Party
Generation Cool is finally opening this Saturday, December 7th, from 5 to 11 p.m. GC is a boutique, arcade and snack bar. There will be GC and Carne and Queso apparel and art collaborations for sale. The Facebook event page says there will be a celebratory toast, free pizza, balloon art by Balloon Man FuDD,…
Manzo Elementary School Makes an Impact in Science
Manzo Elementary School, in part with their scaled-down experiment of Biosphere 2’s LEO project, planted a variety of seeds on their miniature hillslopes. The seeds were picked out by Manzo school counselor Moses Thompson, with the idea of choosing plants that are regionally important. The data collected by the Manzo students will be used for…
Some Kardashians Might Be at the Meet Rack Tonight
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com Wax figures of Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian. Wait, that’s really them? Ok, if you say so. It can be a challenge sorting out truth and the legend when it comes to the Meet Rack, but hey, if you’ve ever wanted to see Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashian (I’m guessing Rob and Scott…
Nemesia — A Lesser Known Winter Annual
The Potted Desert Rose Nemesia with Heuchera Even beginning gardeners are familiar with annual flowers such as pansies, violas, snapdragons and petunias. Mid-westerners and northern state residents plant then in the summer but here in the desert, they are part of our winter mix, holding up very well in potted gardens and flower bed. In…
First Ever Indian Art Fair at the Whistle Stop
John de Dios Be sure to stop by and check out the Indian Art Fair happening at the Whistle Stop Depot on, 127 W 5th St, Sunday, Dec. 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance is $5 and you can go in and out at your leisure. There are plenty of art pieces for…
AZ Illustrated Politics: Talking With Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll
On last night’s AZ Illustrated Politics: Mayor Jonathan Rothschild talked about the new policies and practices related to the Tucson Police Department’s enforcement of SB 1070; the lessons from the November city elections; the city’s initiative to house homeless veterans; his support for the city’s speedcams; and more. Then Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll talked…
“Merry Twistmas, Tucson!” Diaper Benefit and Radio Show
I have been waiting all year for the 94.9 MIXfm Christmas Radio Play, “Merry Twistmas, Tucson.” The annual live performance and recording is Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. The story is an original play written by the Star’s David Fitzsimons. Visits from alien spacecraft, martians and a…
We are thankful for these guys …
C. Elliott The Sand Rubies: Bruce Halper, Winston Watson, Ken Andree, David Slutes, Rich Hopkins … and Howe Gelb and Calexico and all the other Tucson musicians, and venue managers, which is just about all of them, who seem to come together out of thin air on their own dime to prop up our community…
Now on Shelves
Jewelry Box: A Collection of Histories By Aurelie SheehanBOA Editions $14; 126 pages Not quite prose poems, not quite flash fiction, not quite memoir—nonetheless all of the above—the little pieces in Aurelie Sheehan’s new collection that she calls “histories” do, in fact, hint at her life history. Sheehan, a University of Arizona creative writing professor…
Danehy
Ratings sweeps month usually brings out the worst in local TV news as the stations try to grab viewers with lurid and shocking stories. You get your sleaze (“What’s it like to be a stripper?”), complete with meticulously edited backlit footage of naked hoochie mamas dancing badly to disco music. Then there are the shock…
Lies, Lies, Lies
I’ll say this about Lance Armstrong: I couldn’t give two damns about him when he was racing his little bicycle in the Tour de France all those years. Whenever I caught clips of his arrogant ass talking about the sport and defiantly bragging about the legitimacy of his victories, I thought he was a jackass.…
Prezelski
Late last week, after being strangely and awkwardly coy, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber came forth with the unsurprising intelligence that he was running for re-election after being quite public about his preparations to do so for months. It is also hardly news to most folks reading this that Barber has been the target of…
True TV
Mobbed Up Lady Gaga & The Muppets’ Holiday Spectacular Thursday, Nov. 28 (ABC) Special: So this is happening: a 90-minute “avant-garde twist on the classic holiday variety show” featuring the Muppets and Lady Gaga that’s not at all a pre-Christmas infomercial for her (relative) flop of a new album, Artpop. Sure, Gaga’s recent hosting gig…
Media Watch
‘TIS THE SEASON FOR CHARITY DRIVES The deterioration of local talent among cluster-run radio stations has been a recurring theme in this column, so we can get back to beating that drum down the road. Fortunately, during the holiday season there are enough folks still employed locally to assist in putting together charity activities for…
DVD Roundup
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane When teen girl Mandy (Amber Heard) heads out on a weekend booze ‘n’ drugs getaway with a bunch of horny boys, things go bad and bros get dead. Made in 2006, long before Heard’s thespian tour-de-force in the cinema classic Drive Angry. (Radius) Demon An FBI agent with an…
Uncertain Path
The Tucson Weekly recently spoke with Republican congressional candidate Martha McSally about a variety of issues. This week, we present her thoughts on immigration reform. What are your thoughts on a path to citizenship for people who are in the country illegally? Can I give you my perspective on the whole immigration debate? Our immigration…
Steampunk Slip-up
The sudden closing of the El Charro in Rancho Sahuarita left the town without any establishment that served both food and adult beverages, not counting the Super Stop or grocery stores. While there was nothing special about that restaurant, it was always busy and served as a central hangout for friends, families, singles and random…
The Skinny
ROSEMONT’S LATEST HURDLE The Environmental Protection Agency has dealt a serious blow to Rosemont Copper’s plan to build a massive open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers obtained and released by mine opposition group Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, EPA Water Division Director Jane Diamond said…
Noshing Around
Give More Than Thanks As we celebrate Thanksgiving today by overindulging in all that wonderful food and drink, take a minute to think about those who cannot do the same. Please consider making a donation to organizations like the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona or the Salvation Army to help with the hunger problem…
The Power of Words
Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) arrives in Germany at the age of 9. Her mother has given her up for adoption, saving her from the Nazis, but her brother—also selected by her adoptive parents to have a boy around the house to share the workload—died en route to his new home. Her foster mother, Rosa (Emily…
On the Rise
When I caught up with Jeff Klein of My Jerusalem recently, he was taking a break from recording demos of songs that will appear on the Austin, Texas-based band’s third album, tentatively scheduled for a late-summer 2014 release. This was unusual—the quartet have been touring nearly nonstop since their excellent second record, Preachers (The End…
Garden in Repair
The late afternoon sun casts an ephemeral ray onto the white face of Jesus in the Crucifixion statue that stands in the middle of Tucson’s Garden of Gethsemane. The sculpture is pristine and exudes a sacred feel that its artist was no doubt hoping for. The garden is home to multiple other biblical depictions, including…
Soundbites
WARHEADS LEND KXCI A HAND As we mentioned last week, community radio station KXCI 91.3 FM is celebrating its 30th anniversary all month long with a series of concerts that are either fundraisers for the station, or that the station is presenting under the “KXCI Presents” banner. Let’s have a look-see at what’s happening in…
Police Dispatch
SCROTUM SIGHTING NORTH STRATTON SADDLE TRAIL NOV. 1, 4:08 P.M. A foothills-area woman got an eyeful of her elderly male neighbor nude from below the belt, according to a Pima County Sheriff’s Department report. She told a deputy she’d been driving home when she saw the man—an older gentleman who lived alone—in his garage, wearing…
Nine Questions
Lex Elias is the singer/guitarist for the Tucson experimental-rock group Some Of Them Are Old and the possessor of a great rock name. He leaves the rock out of his even more experimental solo project Oddkinn, performing at Plush on Thursday, Dec. 5, with St. Varela and Horse Black. Joshua Levine, mailbag@tucsonweekly.com What was the…
Sports
I haven’t checked everywhere, but I’m pretty sure Sadam Ali’s life story hasn’t been optioned for a movie. It should be. Even before Ali became the unlikeliest of heroes for upstart soccer club FC Tucson, the journey Ali has taken from refugee of a war-torn nation to footie prodigy is the kind of stuff Leonardo…
Live
FREEZING HANDS, GOOD FRIENDS GREAT ENEMIES AND MR. ELEVATOR & THE BRAIN HOTEL TOXIC RANCH RECORDS Saturday, Nov. 23 On one of the coldest nights of the season I headed over to Toxic Ranch, the long-running record store catering to those with a taste for underground sounds. Toxic is closing its doors at the end…
Pick of The Week
Union Tanguera is a tango group based out of Lyon, France, but their hearts are rooted in Argentina. Esteban Moreno, co-artistic director (along with Claudia Codega) and a dancer in Union Tanguero was born in Buenos Aires. He was there studying electronics and dreaming of pursuing theatre when he took his first tango class. Though…
Nightlands: Oak Island
Dave Hartley’s second album under the Nightlands name refines the hallucinatory, gospel-flavored ambient cocoon he devised on 2010’s Forget the Mantra, in addition to his day job work with The War on Drugs. The song titles on Oak Island tell the whole story—”So Far So Long,” “Time & Place,” “Nico,” “So It Goes” and “Born…
City Week
Turning Up the Heat With Tango Union Tanguera is a tango group based out of Lyon, France, but their hearts are rooted in Argentina. Esteban Moreno, co-artistic director (along with Claudia Codega) and a dancer in Union Tanguero was born in Buenos Aires. He was there studying electronics and dreaming of pursuing theatre when he…
Kid Puto: Kid Puto
On their debut 7-inch EP, Kid Puto turn the bile-spewing of early ’80s hardcore punk into oldies-revue fodder. The quintet, fronted by male and female vocalists “Tweedle Drunk” and “Tweedle Drunkerer,” respectively, incisively take on the potter’s field of what was once outrageously shocking and expose the hilarity inherent in the original form—that Achilles’ heel…
T Q & A
Patricia Deridder lived in Japan for 15 years and fell in love with its culture and in particular ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement. Last year, she purchased the former Native Seeds/SEARCH property south of the Tucson Botanical Gardens and has slowly transformed it into Yume Japanese Gardens, a nonprofit public garden that showcases…
Tedeschi Trucks: Band Made Up Mind
For blues-rock fans, the decision by husband-and-wife Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi to combine their respective bands into one 10-piece supergroup verged on a revelation. Here’s a big ol’ band that embraces the jam ethic, and on its second studio album shows off a great songbook for good measure. Tedeschi has a rich voice that…
Stirring Up Sentiment
There are some things—particularly traditions relating to the holidays—that just shouldn’t be messed with. These sacrosanct things, which vary from person to person and family to family, come to have a special meaning because of their associations, or even simply because of the longevity of their presence. It’s like colorizing Miracle on 34th Street or…
Rough Times in Smithland
It’s been a tough month in Mr. Smithland, where the sudden, tragic death of a vehicle and associated financial disaster forced a shit-ton of stress upon my cervical spine, pulling and yanking on it from C5-7 in ways that impinge upon nerves and bring on the need for medicinal cannabis. Thankfully, I have some. And…
All About Mother
There’s something you should know about Mother, Margaret Cho’s latest stand-up show, which hits the Rialto Theatre on Wednesday: “It’s a very personal, hard-hitting and dark show,” Cho says during a phone call. “Among other things, it deals with aging, race, body image, drugs and abortion. I think this tour has a harder edge than…
Ask A Mexican!
Dear Mexican: My father and mother were able to come over because after the “yellow scare” was over, the States didn’t seem to mind that Chinese were coming over here by the boat loads. Since my parents were given visas and green cards pretty easily, my father was able to get into school pretty easily.…
Curtis in Arizona
Annabel Wong has long been an admirer of one of Edward S. Curtis’ famous Indian pictures. “I grew up looking at this photo,” Wong wrote about “Qahátka Girl, 1907,” a work in the Curtis Reframed exhibition at the Arizona State Museum. “This is my favorite.” And no wonder. The picture is a riveting portrait. Draped…
Editor’s Note
I’m sure nearly everyone in Tucson is sick of El Tour stories at this point, right? The weather was miserable, nearly half of those who registered either didn’t finish or just stayed home, etc. etc. In the age of social media, our attention for any particular event isn’t much more than a few blinks of…
